The origin returned an error status
The server answered with a 4xx or 5xx status instead of the manifest, so there was nothing to analyze.
What it means
We reached the origin, but it replied with an HTTP error rather than playlist content.
Why it matters
A player sees exactly the same thing and fails to start. The status narrows the cause considerably: 403 usually means a signed URL has expired or a token is missing, 404 means the path is wrong or the stream has ended, and 5xx points at the packager or origin itself.
How to fix it
- For 403, check whether the URL is signed and whether the signature has expired. Add the required Authorization header or token in the request headers section.
- For 404, confirm the stream is still live — live playlists disappear when the encoder stops.
- For 5xx, check the packager and origin logs; the manifest is not being produced.
Check your own stream
The free stream tester runs this check on every analysis and links each finding straight back here.
Open the stream tester →Frequently asked questions
- What does "The origin returned an error status" mean?
- We reached the origin, but it replied with an HTTP error rather than playlist content.
- Why does it matter?
- A player sees exactly the same thing and fails to start. The status narrows the cause considerably: 403 usually means a signed URL has expired or a token is missing, 404 means the path is wrong or the stream has ended, and 5xx points at the packager or origin itself.
- How do I fix it?
- 1. For 403, check whether the URL is signed and whether the signature has expired. Add the required Authorization header or token in the request headers section. 2. For 404, confirm the stream is still live — live playlists disappear when the encoder stops. 3. For 5xx, check the packager and origin logs; the manifest is not being produced.
- How can I detect this automatically?
- Paste your stream delivery URL into StreamTest's free stream tester. It runs this check on every analysis, flags the finding, and links straight back to this page — no sign-up required.
Related Fetching and delivery checks
- The browser blocked the request (CORS)Your browser refused to read the response because the origin did not send an Access-Control-Allow-Origin header.
- That address cannot be reached from our serversThe URL resolves to a private or reserved address, so we will not connect to it from the server. Local mode tests it from your own browser instead.
- That is not a valid URLThe address could not be parsed, so no request was attempted.
- That URL scheme is not supportedOnly http and https can be fetched; schemes such as rtmp, rtsp and file cannot.
- The URL redirected too many timesWe follow up to three redirects; this URL exceeded that.
- The response was too largeThe document exceeded the size limit for a single analysis.